Little did I know when I created – in utter desperation one cold, wet and wild November morning – a hot cereal to fill the gigantic void left by a bowl of porridge (oatmeal), that it would be turn out to be 1) the most popular recipe post of all time, and 2) become the starting point for a number of other recipes, including this Creamy Lemon Coconut Cereal.

You lovely, lovely people just LOVE that Hot and Nutty Cereal. I’ve had notes from all over the world about how it makes your porridge-less mornings delicious again – and that makes me feel all warm and goofy inside. Not only that, but you’ve bombarded me with ideas on how to use that same mix in different ways. You’re awesome!

I used it as a starting point for my Cinnamon Raisin Muffins, which is also a Top 15 most popular recipe, and I have another couple of recipes I am working on. This Creamy Lemon Coconut Cereal idea came when Lori, a delightful and wonderfully enthusiastic follower in California, posted that she had woken up craving my Hot and Nutty Cereal one day, but because it was a warm day she wanted something cold. She stirred the Hot and Nutty Cereal mix into a cup of Greek Yogurt and voilà! Lori’s favorite cereal – but cold. Not to mention the added protein. Needless to say, as soon as I heard that I ran off to try it. Delicious!
Since I am me, my brain promptly exploded, and lots of ideas for bright, sunny flavors started ricocheting around all over the place. I am always thinking about coconut these days – I blame studio time with Bailor for that one – so I started there and went with my favorite citrus flavor to make a cold, creamy bowl of sunshiny cereal for you.

This Creamy Lemon Coconut Cereal is one of my new favorites, and easy to whip up in bulk at the start of the week, spoon into lidded bowls and stack in the ‘fridge to grab on the way to the office each week-day morning. It’s extremely filling, but with a light, refreshing taste. Would also make a great summertime dessert.

Thanks, Lori, for getting me started on this one!

Creamy Lemon Coconut Cereal

Author: Carrie Brown | www.carriebrown.com

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 TBSP chia seeds

2 TBSP sunflower seeds

4 TBSP unsweetened shredded coconut

1 oz. / 28g vanilla protein powder

1 TBSP xylitol or erythritol (add more to taste)

1/2 TBSP lemon zest (1/2 lemon)

1/2 tsp lemon extract (essence)

1 cup / 8 fl oz. Greek yogurt

1/4 cup / 2 fl oz. unsweetened thin coconut milk

Instructions

Grind chia, sunflower seeds and coconut until very fine in a coffee grinder or high-speed blender (be careful you don’t end up with sunflower butter!).

Measuring out and grinding all those seeds every day got old really fast, so here’s an instant mix that you can make in bulk and store in the ‘fridge ready to go when you want it.

10 TBSP chia seeds

1 1/4 cups sunflower seeds

2 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

10 oz. / 280g vanilla protein powder

10 TBSP xylitol or erythritol

5 TBSP lemon zest (5 lemons)

In batches, place chia seeds, sunflower seeds, and coconut in a coffee grinder and grind until fine. (If you use a blender such as a Vitamix be careful you don’t end up with a paste!) Pour ground mix into a large bowl, add vanilla protein powder, xylitol or erythritol, and lemon zest. Mix very well until completely blended. Store in an air-tight glass jar in the ‘fridge.

Then, when you stumble into the kitchen, bleary-eyed from your 7 hours of shut-eye, here’s the recipe for 1 serving of instant Creamy Lemon Coconut Cereal:

1/2 cup instant cereal mix

1/2 cup / 4 fl oz. Greek yogurt

2 TBSP unsweetened thin coconut milk

1/4 tsp lemon essence

Place cereal mix in a bowl, add yogurt, coconut milk, and lemon essence and stir very well.

danielle -HOLY YUMMMMMMMMMMM!!! This is awesome! I just order the SSOS book so I haven’t read it…I thought it was out of print, but just found it~ my question is….is this all you have for breakfast or do you have a green smoothie with it too? would you add protein to your smoothie?ReplyCancel

carrie-Danielle – your commment made me smile!! It depends what the rest of my day is going to look like. If there’s veggies at lunch and dinner I’ll have this on it’s own. You could add a smoothie without the protein – I’d like to see you try and eat both if you kept the protein in!!! So glad you loved this recipe.ReplyCancel

Katie -Delicious! This is now my go to for breakfast! I made a double batch to have it for the week. It tends to thicken if you let it stay in the fridge for a few days, which I did because I wanted to have it for the week, I think because of the chia seeds, so I added a little bit of skim milk to thin it out because I like my cereal a little more runny. I also added some blueberries to it, delicious! YUM!! Thanks Carrie!ReplyCancel

sandy -I ended up using my hot and nutty cereal mix (since I had made up a bunch) and then 2% greek yoghurt and 2 tbls. coconut milk then topped with tbls. sunflower seeds for extra crunch. I do not add any xylitol to my hot and nutty cereal and its plenty sweet.